Skip to main content

More Information About The Windows 7 Os Product Life Cycle

With Microsoft winding down Windows XP support after so many years, many Windows 7 users are concerned about the Microsoft support period for their operating system. Microsoft’s decision to release the Windows 8 update as a separate OS merely increased this confusion.

Some reports online suggested that by releasing the Windows 8 update as a separate OS, Microsoft is trying put as much distance as it can between Windows 7 and the latest Windows operating system in use. This way, they could justify their decision to discontinue the Microsoft support for Windows 7 later on.

About the Windows 7 OS product lifecycle

 Windows 7 users need not worry about support for the OS expiring any time soon. Microsoft has a clear policy when it comes to product support period and product life cycle. This information is available online at their tech support website.

Irrespective of how many new versions were released after a particular OS, it would continue to receive tech support for the period specified in the product life cycle chart on the Microsoft tech support webpage. It is Microsoft’s policy to provide mainstream support for an OS version for at least five years from its release date, and then optionally extended support for another five.

Mainstream support refers to all aspects of the operating system, and includes improving its performance, security features and even its user interface. Extended support merely covers the security requirements of the operating system, making sure that the outdated operating system does not become a target for hacking and malware attacks.

The expiry dates for each of these support periods for all operating systems currently enjoying Microsoft support are mentioned in this product life cycle chart. According to this chart, the mainstream support for Windows 7 would expire by January 12, 2015, and extended support by January 14, 2020. As you can Windows 7 would continue to receive Microsoft tech support services for many more irrespective of how many new OS versions were released after Windows 7.

So, Windows 7 OS is still a good option for anyone looking to use a Windows OS, but does not want to upgrade to Windows 8. You may continue to use Windows 7 for a few more years, and then upgrade to the latest Windows OS version available at the time.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How To Identify Windows Vista Error Codes

Error codes are numbers, letters, or number/letter combinations related to error messages that are specifically used to recognize issues in Windows and other programs. Windows operating systems use a system of digits and numbers to classify the errors your system may encounter while working. Microsoft provides access to this information and is effective in diagnosing the problems. In case the error message does not furnish the entire information, you need to search for the error code online, by seeking Windows online assistance. If this is also not working, move on to the next step, and search for Windows news groups and communities. You can also look into the error codes online in the Events and Errors message center. In case you face any issue within the error codes, you can get the aid of Microsoft tech support utility to fix the problems at the earliest. How to view error event logs? • Navigate to the bottom left hand side corner of the screen and locate the Start button. Cl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Directions For Safeguarding Your PC Against Virus Threats

Do you suspect virus infection in your PC? Virus infection is one of the most dreadful things you can face while using a PC. It is quite common with Windows operating systems due to its widespread use. There are a few things you can do to get rid of a virus from your Windows PC and to prevent it from getting infected with viruses in future. Tech support for virus removal in Windows Contacting Tech support desk, you can have viruses eliminated from your PC. Tech support desk has a trained team to execute virus removal. All that you need to do is contact the support desk, buy a subscription and let them do the troubleshooting. In addition to subscription based services, Tech support desk offers freemium services such as free troubleshooting steps, support through online forums etc. Here is a brief account on how to safeguard your Windows PC against viruses with the help of Tech guides. Verify that your PC is infected If you suspect that your PC is infected with a virus, the first...
1 comment
Read more

How To Repair And Restore Outlook OST Files

Microsoft Outlook, which is a popular email client, stores all its program data either in “.pst” or “.ost” files. Outlook data related to email folders, contacts, calendars - everything is saved in these files. One advantage of this is that you could easily transfer all your Outlook data to a different computer by simply copying these PST or OST files. But there is also a negative aspect to it. If something happens to these files, your entire Outlook data could become obsolete. And that’s if you still retain any of it – there’s a chance you won’t be able to access any of the data, including the email messages. However, Microsoft Outlook lets you repair these damaged or corrupted PST or OST files using its built-in repair tool. Below are some Outlook repair instructions to troubleshoot problems associated with corrupted PST or OST files. Repairing the .ost file Close the Outlook application if it is running. Click on the Start button and select the option “Run”.  Type “ dr...
2 comments
Read more